Tuesday, April 22, 2014

10:24 AM

Winnebago County Exec Mark Harris said he has filed paperwork to run for the 6th CD and plans to focus his campaign on preserving Social Security, making college more affordable, shoring up the country's infrastructure and increasing the minimum wage.Harris, a Dem, told WisPolitics.com last week that he planned to get into the race and said today he has now filed the required paperwork to run."We've got some pressing matters that have to be dealt with, and some of them are going to require difficult choices," Harris said in a phone interview. "We have to be able to work across the aisle and reach compromise on these difficult choices."Harris said all options are on the table to shore up Social Security, and he would like to see the maximum amount of a worker's pay subject to Social Security taxes increased. It's $117,000 for 2014 with the 12.4 percent tax rate split evenly between workers and employers. He said future federal revenue growth should be used to close the deficit, though he'd like some set aside for states to invest more money in public colleges and universities. He'd also like to see a bipartisan solution to maintain the federal government's investment in roads.Harris also said he supports increasing the minimum wage. But he would like lawmakers on both sides to reach an agreement that would tie increases in the minimum wage to the average private sector wage. He said in 1968 the minimum wage equaled 54 percent of the average private sector wage, and it bottomed out at 34 percent in 2007. He'd like to see that set at 40 percent to 42 percent. Putting it at 42 percent now would mean a minimum wage of $8.53 an hour, he said.-- By JR Ross